“Huang Si, you go guide them and set up the room. I’ll go make my reports before inviting ‘guests’ over.”

Tai Xilun quickly disappeared into the halls of Bloodwave Conclave’s headquarters, leaving the four young men behind.

Huang Si cleared his throat to fill the silence that ensued and drew the party’s attention.

“Follow closely and keep your heads down. I’ll explain your roles as we move.”

Li Lang and his crew were soon led through the base of the reigning organization of Emberglow City. Huang Si explained whenever no one was within earshot. At times, they all fell silent as others walked by.

Either way, they kept their words vague, as they didn’t know if anyone with an unfathomable cultivation would overhear them. It wasn’t likely as they had better things to do, but they still had to take precautions due to the sensitivity of their mission.

Throughout the conversation, Huang Si was successfully able to convey how to conduct oneself as an attendant. The crash course on etiquette was brief, but that was fine. Most cultivators didn’t pay any attention to them. They just needed to keep their heads down.

Within ten minutes, they arrived.

Huang Si had led them to Tai Xilun’s personal courtyard. Despite being inside the cliff walls, the conclave still managed to create separate houses inside that came with neat courtyards. It was as if the entire headquarters were an expansive zone in itself.

Huang Si wasted no time and dismissed the existing attendants so Li Lang’s group could replace them.

The group then cleaned up the place and went over to where everything was. They needed to at least know where to go to brew tea or bring snacks.

“So, who are you to Senior Tai, anyway?” Long Yi nosily asked as they worked.

“Me? I’m just one of the many disciples within the Bloodwave Conclave. I just hang around Senior Tai because we get along.”

“What? That guy? He seems like he’d torture me the moment he got evidence of any wrongdoing.”

“That…may be true…But that’s how our organization does things. It’s not easy keeping this town in order with so many people around. Senior Tai is actually quite nice if you get to know him.”

“No thanks. No offense, but I’d prefer not to see your senior or anyone from your group if I can help it.”

“Well, then I’d have to say sorry,” Huang Si smiled wryly. “I secured a spot to enter The Great Trial of Water Crest as well. I’ll be heading in with you guys.”

Hearing the mention of the pocket realm, both Li Lang and Wei Ping tuned in to their conversation. In fact, Wei Ping immediately jumped in.

“You a-are? Is there a-anything you can tell us a-about what to expect? You must’ve h-had seniors who've b-been inside before, right?”

Huang Si was taken aback by Wei Ping’s vigor but quickly recollected himself.

“What…? Yes, there are some past records about the realm, but The Great Trial of Water Crest hasn’t been around that long as far as pocket realms go.”

“Still, p-please tell as much as y-you can about it!”

“Umm…I’m not sure what to say. It’s just a bunch of boring old trials run by the artifact spirits there. If you do well, they will reward you. If you perform poorly, you eventually get kicked out of the realm.”

Wei Ping didn’t waste the opportunity and began unleashing a torrent of questions as the rest watched on.

Luckily, the sound of footsteps was soon heard, marking Tai Xilun’s return.

He glanced around the reception room and nodded toward the young men.

“I’ve secured meetings with several suspects. They should arrive shortly. Huang Si, you retire for now. We’ll call you after.”

Hearing their instructions, Huang Si left, and the boys got started preparing the tea.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Just as the water boiled, the doors to the reception room opened.

“Elder Ming, thank you for coming on such short notice!” Tai Xilun greeted.

“No problem. I heard it was important.”

“Yes, but please take a seat first. We can at least discuss it over a cup of tea.”

It was only once both men were seated that Li Lang got a good look at the newcomer. He was a middle-aged man wearing the characteristic red and black robes. He was cleanly shaved and had sharp eyebrows.

Li Lang quickly placed down the cups of tea and quietly retreated to the corner. Off to the side, Wei Ping and Long Yi stood straight as a pole. They breathed softly, careful not to draw any attention to themselves.

“You see, Huang Jingyi had recently discovered a clue relating to the murders. He is having trouble identifying the material he found. Knowing Elder Ming is a seasoned Woodsmith, I wanted to tap into your knowledge to see if we can identify this substance.”

“I see…”

The two men began chatting away. For several more minutes before they parted. As soon as the elder had left, Tai Xilun immediately picked up the elder’s teacup.

“If you’re going to learn about this technique, you might as well watch it in action,” He off-handily spoke out to Li Lang as he focused on the cup.

Long Yi soon let out a yelp as blood came out from Tai Xilun’s orifices. The man in question didn’t seem to be in any pain, but it didn’t change the ghastly sight. Blood began to flow in midair. It gathered right above the teacup and began spinning around it.

The stream of blood began to rapidly pick up speed.

A moment later, the vibrant red blood appeared to have lost some energy. It then swiftly returned to its owner through the same entry points it came from.

“There. Quickly examine it with your technique.”

Li Lang nodded and picked up the cup.

“If you would, please look away.”

“...Just be quick with it.”

The young boy then stuffed the teacup into his robes before Ruby consumed it. If someone was paying careful attention, they would have thought it disappeared into a space ring.

Wasting no time, Li Lang assumed the lotus position as he went into the artifact space. It didn’t take long to throw the teacup into the auto-analyzer. The results came equally fast due to Tai Xilun having already eliminated any traces of Qi within the sample.

After five minutes, Li Lang had already read the results. He returned to reality and opened his eyes.

“It’s not him.”

“It couldn't be that easy. Go make preparations for the next guest.”

Like this, the group repeated their ploy. Tai Xilun chatted briefly with his guests, one after the other.

Li Lang would then examine the DNA sample from their saliva. The day quickly went by.

It was only when they finished examining the last guest of the day that something turned up. A young man by the name of Gui Hong had DNA that matched the blood on the scene.

“...Inner Disciple Gui Hong you say? He’s been stuck in the middle stages of Foundation Gathering for a while…Is that why he succumbed to his urges?” Tai Xilum mumbled. “Anyway, we’ll proceed to observe him for a while first. We need to see if he has any accomplices.”

“Is that really wise?”

“Yes. Every time we catch a culprit, a new one appears to replace them. It may be because they have people within our organization covering for them but still. We need to cut the problem at the root. You three should stay the night here while we investigate. There are ample rooms for attendants.”

“...Staying the night. Can you at least give me the cultivation manual now?”

“Yes, that would work out better for me. The manual belongs to the conclave, so it shouldn’t leave our grounds in the first place. Here, sign this contract first.”

At the wave of the hand, a book and contract materialized in Tai Xilun’s hand. He handed them off to Li Lang and received the signed contract back. He then walked off while sighing to himself. Li Lang could pick up some complaints he mumbled about having to do the investigation.

Thankfully for Li Lang, the investigation was none of his business. Tai Xilun soon summoned Huang Si again, who then in turn guided them to their lodgings.

After a rollercoaster of a day, the trio finally had time to rest.

“Do you think you can help us pass along a message to our mentors? We’ve suddenly gone missing for an entire day, and now, probably even longer,” Long Yi asked.

His words didn’t match his face, which was excited. No words needed to be exchanged to know that he was happy to take a break from his Artificer training.

“No problem. I’ll personally inform them tomorrow morning.”

With that, the trio were left to their own devices inside a modest room.

Li Lang had no idea what his friends were up to after Huang Si left. That was because he immediately dove headfirst into his new cultivation manual. A grin escaped him as he stared down at the book. It was titled ‘Blood Qi Dissolution Art’.

It didn’t take long for him to be intoxicated with the new information contained in the book. It talked about how Qi could be traceable, and how to prevent it. The technique was simple in theory. One just had to exhaust all the Qi in what they wanted to conceal. By doing so, divinators would no longer be able to use it as a medium to track one down.

However, in practice, it wasn’t so easy to exhaust the Qi. This was especially true since it dealt with parts of the body that had already separated from the practitioner. One needed a good Qi control technique, even at a distance away from the main body.

It was a requirement only those who were at least in the late stages of Energy Gathering could fulfill. That was because the characteristic ability of late-stage cultivators was exactly that. To manipulate their Qi even at range.